SENATE SEAT DEMS: Cape Democrats see unity after primary - Massachusetts Democrats expect to hold on to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death last summer of Sen. Edward Kennedy, but before that can happen they have to choose a candidate. Michael Capuano, Martha Coakley, Alan Khazei and Steve Pagliuca are on the ballot in the Dec. 8 primary. Prominent Cape Cod Democrats have lined up mainly behind Coakley and Capuano in what has been a quiet primary campaign. And when it’s over, party unity is just about assured. By John Basile.

SENATE SEAT DEBATE 1: Democrats prepare for Tuesday's Senate debate - The four Democrats running for U.S. Senate will participate in a live TV debate Tuesday co-sponsored by GateHouse Media and Channel 5. By The Patriot Ledger.

SENATE SEAT DEBATE 2: SouthCoast Alliance to host U.S. Senate Democratic Primary Forum Dec. 5 at UMD - Just three days before the special primary election to fill the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat, the SouthCoast Alliance will present a U.S. Senate Democratic primary forum on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. at the Main Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. By The Herald News.

SOLDIER MEMORIAL: Family of fallen Plymouth soldier opts for public memorial service - At first, the family of Staff Sgt. Matthew A. Pucino, an Army National Guardsman killed in Afghanistan last week, wanted just a private military service in Washington. But so many friends and fellow servicemen were calling to offer condolences that the family decided that local service was needed, too. By Sue Scheible.

STIMULUS: State criticized on stimulus spending - In February, the federal government outlined hopes for the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) package: Jobs, economic growth, infrastructure improvements - all under the open public gaze of transparency and accountability. By Sara Brown and Sarah Thomas.

H1N1: Milford swine flu clinic for children is tomorrow - The town is set to vaccinate 1,000 children against H1N1 at tomorrow's swine flu clinic, and officials say they've worked hard to keep it from getting chaotic. By Danielle Ameden.

CHECKOUT LANE: Don’t get burned when buying firewood - Maggie Oldfield, co-owner of Thayer Nursery in Milton, Mass., says any wood’s moisture level has to be below 25 percent for it to burn. “Less water in the wood means you have less smoke, so your fire burns more slowly and your wood is lasting longer.” By Sara Castellanos.

MASS MARKET: Legislature leaves lots of work to finish in 2010 - Lawmakers left plenty of unfinished business behind at the State House when they packed up their bags for their annual six-week vacation from formal sessions. By Jon Chesto.

FINE PRINT: Some consumer protections for gift card recipients - Gift cards will be hot items again this year for Christmas shoppers. The cards may seem simple enough, but they are regulated in Massachusetts by a complex series of consumer protection rules. Here's a quick rundown of things to remember about those rules this holiday season, courtesy of Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. By The Patriot Ledger.

CASINO: New investors in Middleboro casino spurs interest in renegotiating the town’s contract - With possible new investors on the horizon for the tribal casino planned in town, at least one public official thinks it’s time to revisit the original terms of the deal hammered out more than two years ago. By Alice C. Elwell.

REOPENING: Oriental Chow Mein Noodle Co. open for business after June fire - The Oriental Chow Mein Noodle Co. is open for business. Heavily damaged by fire in June, the Oriental Chow Mein Noodle Co. officially reopened by the end of the day Friday. By The Herald News.

EDITORIAL: Smarter sentencing saves money - If there's a bright side to a financial emergency, it's the opportunity a crisis brings to stop spending money on things that aren't working. For example, Massachusetts last year spent $1.4 billion incarcerating people. That's more than the Legislature spent on public higher education. By MetroWest Daily News.

RICK HOLMES: Questions for the Senate candidates - It's not easy getting a straight answer, or at least an original one, from skilled politicians running for high office. I'll be giving it my best shot on Tuesday, as one of the journalists posing the questions at the GateHouse Media/WCVB TV debate for the four Democrats seeking to fill the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.

PETER GOLDEN: North of Pakistan, East of Iran - Roughly the size of Texas and with a population of about 13 million, Afghanistan has rightly been called "the graveyard of empires" for the simple reason that no Western power has ever "won" there. This is worth noting in light of the current debate as to proper U.S. policy in the region.

PETER COSTA: To sleep, perchance to dream at the hospital - This week I am going into the hospital for two invasive tests. Think Vikings invading England or the U.S. invading Normandy on D-Day. I just know, that even with an IV in my wrist dripping coma-inducing drugs, I will somehow, once again, writhe like a crocodile at just the wrong time.

PHOTO GALLERY: Country music lovers come to Bridgewater - Local country music lovers descended on the Bridgewater Vets Club on Sunday for the Massachusetts Country Music Awards Association Hall of Fame’s annual winter concert. The guest band was Larry Flynt & The Road Scholars. Founded in 1979 by Luke Wetherfield, the Massachusetts Country Music Awards Association supports live country music in Massachusetts. By The Enterprise.

DURER: MFA exhibit captures technical capability of Durer in all its glory - In a just-opened exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Albrecht Durer emerges as a creative giant whose technical brilliance and innovative powers equipped him to span the Late Medieval period in which he was born and the Northern Renaissance which he significantly shaped. By Chris Bergeron.

CABARET: At the MFA: Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris" - Cafe and Cabaret: Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features more than 30 of Toulouse-Lautrec's posters, prints and paintings and other views of Bohemian life by Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Pierre Bonnard and Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. By Chris Bergeron.